ANSWERS TO PRAYER
by Jim Kaness

It is popular in some circles to doubt that God really does answer our prayers, and explain it away by saying that the answer received must have been just a coincidence - that what I consider to be God's answer to my prayer is somehow just plain dumb luck. Yes, it could be that, or it could be that God really and actually did supernaturally inspire one or more persons to act in such a way that what I asked for actually happened. I do believe that God does (and has) answered some of my prayers in surprizing ways.

For the sake of illustration, let's keep the following example entirely in the human realm.

Suppose you and I are employed by the same company and work closely together. One day, just before lunch, I get called to a meeting and don't have time to buy my lunch. So I ask you, my good friend, to please get me a McDonalds #3 combo and give you the money to pay for it. I go off to my meeting and when I return to my desk find a McDonalds #3 combo and change sitting on the desk. Coincidence? Of course not! I asked for a favor and the favor was done. What I do not know at the time is that you gave the order and money to a third person who filled the order and gave it to you to give to me.

The above illustration is not unique. People do favors for each other all the time. It seems only to be unique when we ask GOD for a favor and it is done!

Below are a few of the favors, big and small, that I asked God for during my lifetime. The answers did not change the course of history, but they did strengthen my own faith.

1. In college (1960) I was late for a meeting- too late to walk and get there on time. I asked God to help me get there on time and hurried out of the dorm. At the street in front of the dorm was a brand new, bright red Corvette, parked with the top down. The single occupant turned to me and asked, "Can I give you a lift?" Of course I said "yes" and hopped in. I got to the meeting on time. I had never seen that car before or since.

2. In 1963 I was at Fort Ord, California completing my Army Basic Training, having enlisted in the Army National Guard. I needed a job and prayed to God for it. The next day my mother called to say she had received a phone call offering me a civil service job. I interviewed for the job and turned it down, explaining what it was I really wanted to work at. A few days later another phone call offered me the exact job I was looking for. It began a 31-year career with several promotions and a good retirement in 1994.

3. Have you ever driven in Honolulu, Hawaii? If so, you know it is a maze of one-way streets intersected by canals and bridges. My wife and I had rented a car for the day to tour Oahu. It was late in the day, we were up on the mountain behind and overlooking Honolulu and we had to return the car to a certain gas station at Waikiki Beach before 8 PM. It was 1983 and there was no GPS and we had no map! I asked God to get us there on time. Believing He would, I began following my instincts as to what lane to be in and when and how to turn. In this fashion we crossed over most of the city heading toward the beach. At 5 minutes to 8 PM I noticed we were in the right-hand left turn lane which, when the light turned green, would put us directly in front of the gas station we needed to return the car to. We made it!

4. It is 1974 and my wife Anne and I were in bed for the night with our bedroom door closed. Outside our room and down the hall and through his own closed door our middle son Karl was in his bed having a coughing attack. The doctor had diagnosed him earlier that day with bronchitis and he was sure sounding like it. Anne and I prayed to God that He would heal Karl. After our "Amen" Karl's coughing stopped and never continued. The next morning he said he felt fine- and acted it. There were two closed doors between us and Karl. Karl did not know we were praying for him- or that we ever intended to pray for him.

5. I retired from federal civil service in 1994. None of our three sons had shown an interest in college so there seemed to be no need to financially provide for that. So, of course, in 1998 two of them decided they needed more education! I remember standing in our back yard and looking up to heaven. "God, if you want me to help put these kids through school then you will have to get me a job so I can earn some more money for that." The next day the phone rang and a Temp Agency I had not spoken to for over a year called to ask if I was interested in a job they had open. Of course I said "Yes". I stayed in that "temp" job for 13 months through a company downsizing and a written attempt by one of my coworkers to get me fired. After 13 months I resigned because I found another job that paid 2 1/2 times as much! I stayed with the second company, as their employee, for four years and then quit- giving them 6 months notice- to spend more time with my wife and family. The kids' late schooling had long since been paid for.

These are just some of the reasons I believe God answers prayer.

P.S. God gives each of us free will. He does not make any of us do anything. He may inspire us or others, but the decisions we make and the actions we take are entirely our own choosing. And, yes, like parents with their kids, God does not always give us what we ask for. You know the old saying, "Be careful what you pray for---you just might get it!"